What are your thoughts? Although I benefit greatly from the technical elements from learning with Sharon, and the endless humor that she attaches to "sexy moves" for women (rolls, pops etc).... Sometimes when the male helpers explain things I tend to get it faster.

What do guys think about having a male instructor vs. female instructor? Do you think there would be added benefit in learning from a Toronto Dance Salsa (guy)?

personally I don't mind having a female instructor for the lower levels 1-3 to learn turn patterns etc. But would rather prefer to have a male instructor once you get beyond the beginner levels. It just starts becoming weird trying to follow or apply styling techniques for a guy when you see a female doing it (I get confused easily), just my opinion.

In my experiences, the gender of the instructor didn't always determine whether I would have a better learning experience. A good teacher will bring out the best in their students - male or female.

This has been true for me too... I've found the best teachers are the ones that usually have the following:

Passion for the subject (ie enthusiasm)

Good, thorough technical knowledge of subject

Genuine interest in seeing others succeed at learning subject.

Having said that, if I look at my schooling history, I'd have to say that a larger percentage of my "great" teachers have been female (just a coincidence IMHO)._________________Some dance to remember....
Some dance to forget...

I agree with Lindiloo and 2left feet - gender doesn't make a difference for me. It is the quality of instruction. You can go out to any salsa club and look at different styles of male dancers and get an idea of how you want to look. You can find a male styling class that will offer male specific styles. But in terms of technique, learning how to dance and learning moves, the quality of the instructor is what matters.

Whoever you choose as an instructor they have to be able to lead and follow so they can discuss both points of view. There are many male instructors who cannot actually follow so they give a slanted view of the dance.

I've taken a number of salsa classes. I've been with two different schools and took instruction at the Canadian Salsa Congress. From all the instructors I've had, I find that Sharon breaks the moves down the best. She's the best there is in Toronto. A lot of other dancers (male and female) look good but they can't explain things well and that won't help you as a salsa dancer.

I've even bought instructional salsa DVDs and Sharon breaks it down much better than they do. Combine that with her great humour and energy and you've got the perfect salsa teacher! I wouldn't trade her for anyone!

First off, for shines and patterns I have not felt a difference between male and female instructors. I agree that Sharon breaks down a pattern and explains the details very well.

I think one frustration that some men may feel is the lack of classes for men's styling. I'm one of those men. Everywhere I go in the world, men's styling is typically related to a workshop or two here and there. The unfortunate thing is that although a lot of men "want" to learn better styling, it appears that few are willing to invest the time in an entire class devoted to styling. So when you see women looking like "all that and a bag of chips" understand that likely they've taken 9 weeks of a lady's styling class to get there.

For myself, I find that the best way to dance more "macho" with cool styling is to take a private from a good male instructor who you wouldn't mind mimicking a bit while you figure out your own style. As Karem has said on another posting, styling is a lot about understanding body movement. Taking a street dance (aka. hip hop, popping, locking, etc.) class that focuses on body isolation and movement can add some spice into your salsa as well. Al "Liquid Silver" Espinoza is a good example of integrating street dance movement into salsa.